Say Something
by acaeverything
Summary: A drabble mini series inspired by A Great Big World's 'Say Something'. " "Say something. Please?" Her words rang through the near empty house as she glanced down at the woman who still held every piece of heart. Despite how broken that heart might be."
1. Say Something

**A/N.** I **highly **recommend you listen to the song while reading this.

* * *

"Say something. Please?" Her words rang through the near empty house as she glanced down at the woman who still held every piece of heart. Despite how broken that heart might be.

Only the steady breathing of the woman broke the silence, who sat slumped on the couch, her elbows leaning harshly on the coffee table and her fingers desperately intertwined within her hair as if her palms would somehow block the outside world and by staring at the polished wood she would find the right words.

"Aubrey I-" Chloe tried again, choking back a sob, her fingers tightening on the hard and unforgiving handles of her suitcase "I still love you." The words burned through her mouth and down into her lungs, each shuttering breath was fire, singeing any hope that was left.

She had never thought that it would end like this. She never thought she'd be the one to leave. But it was too much. Three years worth of too much and Chloe couldn't be what Aubrey wanted. She was ready to wait, she would have waited forever for Aubrey. But this? This wasn't what she signed up to be, to be hidden, and nothing in the eyes of Aubrey's social circle, led to believe behind closed doors and curtains that they were the forever kind. One step into the light could tell you otherwise but _Chloe had waited. _

She couldn't be Aubrey's secret anymore. She couldn't be the part of Aubrey's life that the blonde was ashamed of.

Tears were stinging her eyes and her chest was heaving with silent sobs as she stepped forward towards the couch "Say something," she pleaded again. _Anything. _Anything to tell her that leaving should not be an option.  
Anything to tell her that this could be fixed.

Anything to tell her that she was loved.

But there was only the sound of her breathing, and the distant thumps of the upstairs neighbour in their New York apartment.

"Okay," she mumbled, nodding her head and pulling her sleeve up to wipe the warm tears that were now streaming down her face. "Okay," she whispered again, taking a step back to her original position and picking up her bag. She paused at the door to stare back at the girl who was so lifeless she swore it could have been a statue. The only indication that she heard Chloe's words were the slight rise of her breathing, the pace speeding up to that of steady pants.

She squeezed her eyes shut and fought through the crippling sensation in her chest as she turned the handle of the door. "Goodbye," she sobbed, opening the door and stepping through into the hallway.

Each step harder than the last.


	2. I'm Giving Up On You

_~Two and a Half Years Prior ~_

"You seem especially chipper," Aubrey commented, dumping the shopping bags on the counter.

"Bree, we just graduated and moved to an entire new city, how could I not?!" Chloe had skipped in to the kitchen after her, and the minute Aubrey released the plastic bags from her fingers she stepped in from behind to wrap her arms around the blonde's waist and snuggle her chin in to her shoulder.

"Chloe," the taller girl reprimanded, "I have to put the groceries away."

"They can wait," she mumbled into her shoulder, nuzzling her nose ever so slightly against her neck and breathing in Aubrey's intoxicating scent. "Aren't you a little excited?"

She could feel Aubrey's chuckle against her entire body and the blonde turned to wrap her arms around Chloe's waist. "Definitely." She followed the words with a quick peck to her nose, smiling at her girlfriend's playful smirk. "Let me at least put some stuff in the fridge?" Aubrey negotiated, pulling out of Chloe's arms and rifling through the bags. As soon as she was done, the redhead's hands were pulling her into the lounge room and onto the couch, instantly snuggling into her side and playing with her fingers.

"This is nice."

"Hmm?"

"I mean, I love Atlanta, and I'll miss the Bellas, but it's nice to finally get away from it all. To just be us, you know?"

"I know what you mean." Aubrey smiled, wrapping her arms tighter around the smaller girl. "It feels amazing."

"Just you and me."

"Always."

Chloe looked up from Aubrey's shoulder "Always?" She was still lightly twirling her fingers around the blonde's, their hands subconsciously craving each other's touch.

"Mmm. Forever."


	3. I'll Be The One If You Want Me To

_~One Year Prior~_

_'It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter,' _Chloe had to keep reminding herself as she tore her eyes away from Aubrey slipping the flirting guy's card into her purse. '_No matter what happens she's going home with you.' _She looked down into her near empty glass and proceeded to skull the rest of the liquid, ignoring the familial burn as the vodka slid down her throat. She focused back in on the guy who was currently trying to chat her up [despite blatantly stating she wasn't interested about twenty minutes ago] and couldn't help but roll her eyes at his obnoxious ramblings. She glanced back over to the bar to her girlfriend laughing at something the brunette had said, narrowing her eyes when she spotted his hand sliding across the bench top and gently brushing against hers.

"I need to go to the bathroom," she stated, standing abruptly and leaving the guy- Jake, was it?- mid conversation. She swung the door open and immediately found her place in front of the sink, splashing water on her face and letting the cool liquid soothe her hands. Maybe if she pretended to be drunk she could convince Aubrey to go home early.

What was the point of going out if they spent most of their time on opposite ends of the bar?

She took a deep breath of the sterile bathroom air and stared at the cracked wall in front of her, wishing that there was a mirror so she could reassure herself about this entire situation. They had talked about it before, but Chloe could never seem to win that argument. But it's not like she could just give up. Truth be told she'd follow Aubrey anywhere.

She dried her hands on the crease of her skirt before re-entering the bar and weaving her way through the crowd towards Aubrey. "I want to go home," she mumbled, glancing at the flirty guy and then back the blonde.

"Are you okay?"

"Drunk," she lied, leaning further into Aubrey to prove her point – and maybe just needing the reassurance of her touch.

She watched as Aubrey threw the guy an apologetic look before standing up and readying her coat. "I should probably get her home. It was nice meeting you, Brian."

"Anytime." He flashed a sickening smile that made Chloe feel like throwing up. "And call me when you're free, it'd be nice to hang out somewhere other than a dingy bar."

"Have a good night," was all that she shot back, placing her arms on Chloe's elbows to steady the shorter girl and helping her out into the car. The drive was silent, and Chloe couldn't help but start to notice the spaces between their conversations were more awkward than comfortable these days.

"You going to call him?" she eventually whispered, as the car turned right at the green light and set them on a straight path home.

"What?" Aubrey shot her a confused look. "No, why would I?"

"You kept his number."

"I was going to throw that card out the minute we got home, Chloe," she said with the roll of her eyes, reaching over to squeeze Chloe's hand.

"Why couldn't you have just told him you were taken?"

"Chloe-"

"Not even that you were gay, just 'taken' would have sufficed! If he had known that you were spoken for then he wouldn't have wasted an entire hour and fifteen minutes flirting with you!"

"I didn't think of it at the time, and if he had asked me about having a boyfriend I didn't want to lie-"

"This whole thing is a lie! How much longer do we have to keep doing this Aubrey?!"

They had finally reached the apartment building and the car rolled to a stop, the engine switching off left them both engulfed in darkness. "I don't want to talk about this right now."

"Then when, Bree? When are you going to talk about this with me?"

"We have talked about it-"

"No, _I've _talked about it. And you've just sat there and listened and avoided comment. Well I think it's about time you say something!"

"You're drunk. Let's just go to bed."

Chloe stared aghast at the shadowed figure of her girlfriend before huffing out a sigh. "Fine" she spoke into the darkness "Fine, let's go to bed."


	4. Anywhere I Would Have Followed You

_~One week after~_

She was pretty sure she had the right place. Chloe had refused to answer her calls or texts and it was up to Aubrey to guess her whereabouts. She'd been to apartment once before but it was Chloe who had driven that night, and Aubrey could only hope that she would see familiar faces on the other side of the door.

Preferably just Chloe's.

Seconds after she had tentatively knocked, the door finally opened to reveal the one person Aubrey did _not _want to deal with right now.

"_Seriously?_" Beca cocked an eyebrow. "_You waited an entire_ _week._ I don't think you even deserve to talk to her right now."

"Beca-"

"Jesus Christ, Aubrey, do even know what you've done?"

"I –" She wasn't interrupted by Beca this time and her words were left hanging in her throat. She didn't really have an excuse.

"What are you planning on saying to her?"

"I- I don't know."

"Then why are you _even here, _Aubrey?"

"I love her," she replied weakly, shuffling her feet and avoiding Beca's gaze.

"Jesse and I managed to get her to eat a substantial meal only yesterday." The words were said solemnly. "Please don't make this worse." She glanced behind her to double check Chloe couldn't hear them, stepping out in to the hallway and closing the door. "Aubrey, what were you thinking?"

"I- I couldn't-"

"I've known you guys for almost four years now, and I had no idea you two were dating! Hell you visited us for Easter last year and nothing, you didn't even hold her damn hand? What the hell, Posen?!"

"Is she okay?" Aubrey choked out, pulling her hand up to cover her mouth in an attempt to stifle her sobs.

"No," came the low reply, "She's really not."

Aubrey had hot tears burning lines down her face and she focused on getting her breathing back to normal, barely hearing the pitying sigh that expelled from Beca's lips. "I can't let you see her without knowing that you're going to make this right. Apologise, comfort her, out your goddamn self and start treating her with respect. And if you can't do those things then I suggest you just leave now before you create more damage."

She then patted Aubrey uncomfortably on the shoulder, who was now leaning against the wall for support. "I'll leave you alone for a minute to think things through," she whispered, crossing the hall and opening her apartment door. "Good luck, Posen."

A second knock never came.


	5. Say Something!

**A/N **So originally the story actually ends here. With Aubrey walking away and their relationship crumbling to dust because _angst. _And in my head it was assumed that Aubrey and Chloe would return to New York and find a new apartments and deal with their heartbreak separately. But alas, angst can suck sometimes and I'm not a _complete _sadist, so I wrote this. An alternate ending.

* * *

Her head was spinning. Sort of in the I'm-about-to-collapse sort of way mixed with I-have-too-much-adrenaline sort of way. She lost Chloe. She fucked up. And she was having all kinds of panic attacks as she crumpled in the lobby corner of Beca's apartment building.

No. _No. _She wasn't going to give up on her. She can do this.

She angrily wiped the tears away from her face and stumbled out of the building, the fresh autumn breeze allowing fresh air into her lungs. She searched haphazardly into her bag and pulled out her phone, scrolling through the list of names and stopping at the one labelled "home"

She couldn't do this. _She had to do this._

She needed alcohol.

Four streets of running later and she found a small but cosy bar, one that she vaguely remembers visiting in her junior year. She pants out a breath, the wind whipping her hair across her shoulders and over her face and makes her way inside, ignoring the mocking jingle of the bell above the door.

As she approaches the counter , the bartender focuses his attention on her "What can I get you m'lady?"

"I'm gay!" She blurts out, eyes widening and hand coming to block her mouth.

"So..." the bartender deadpanned "slippery nipple? Red-headed slut?"

"What?"

"What would you like to drink?" he prompted.

"Oh" Oh. Okay. "Whiskey. Double please." She tapped her fingers nervously on the counter and contemplated what had just transpired. _What a crude cocktail name. _The drink arrived and within seconds she had handed over the money, sculled the drink, and left the bar, pressing call on her phone and bringing it up to her ear.

"Aubrey? Darling are you okay?" She could hear the worried tone of her mother and, okay, maybe it was strange for her to call out of the blue but she didn't really have time for pleasantries.

"Mother? I'm gay-"

"What?"

"Can you please pass me on to father?"

"Aubrey you-"

"Please? I don't have much time." There was what sounded like a scuffle with the phone but Aubrey just stood there patiently on the side of the street.

"Aubrey." Came the sound of her father's stern voice.

"Papa, I'm gay."

"Aub-"

"Lesbian. I like girls. I love Chloe. We've been dating. I love you" and with that she hung up. Her head was spinning just that little faster now with the presence of alcohol but it was her heart that hurt the most. A mixture of heartbreak and hope had it beating furiously in her chest as she began to walk back to the apartment complex.

Chloe. _Chloe is all that matters._

Chloe likes apple pie.

She needed a bakery.

Finding one in a shopping mall wasn't too difficult, and she couldn't resist, with a coffee in one hand and a bag of pastries in another, shouting "thanks! I'm gay!" when the barista told her to have a lovely day.

She felt fucking liberated. She stopped on a street corner to pull her phone out again, dialling Lindsay's number.

"Heyy girlfriend-"

"I'm gay."

"What?"

"And I would really appreciate if you stopped trying to set me up with all the guys at the firm."

"Why didn't you just say somethi-" Aubrey didn't hear the rest of that sentence as she tucked her phone away and crossed the street to the apartment building. Taking the steps two at a time she made her way up to the third floor.

"Aubrey?" She had just barged through the staircase door and into the hallway to catch Jesse just walking out of the elevator. He looked nervous to see her as his eyes flickered to the door of his apartment "what are you doing here?"

"I'm gay." She breathed "and I love Chloe. And I need her back" She didn't have enough patience to wait for his astonished face to catch up with everything she had said, so bypassing the man, she made her way down the hall and knocked on the door.

Almost like de ja vu it was Beca who answered and Beca who cocked an eyebrow "Aubrey?"

"I'm ready." She said, with all the determination she could muster, more than aware how out of breath she was from running, and how windswept she must look. "I swear I'm ready."

Beca's eyes glanced up over her shoulder to meet Jesse's before nodding slowly and stepping out the way, pulling the door wider for Aubrey's access. "Okay." She muttered, and pointed down the hall towards the guest bedroom "go get her."

* * *

A/N

I'm not sure if there'll be another chapter. I like the fact that there is so much left to the unknown, a Schrödinger plot. [of course, if there are hoards of requests for a continuation it might be considered... I am a little sadistic sorry guys]


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